Seas and Oceans: Biodiversity

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2007,  Official Report, column 712W, on seas and oceans: biodiversity, what legal protection is currently offered to  (a) Braemar Pockmarks,  (b) Darwin Mounds,  (c) Haig Fras,  (d) North Northfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef,  (e) Scanner pockmark,  (f) Stanton banks and  (g) Wyville Thomson Ridge; for what reasons each site is not classified as European Offshore marine sites; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) began consultation on these seven offshore sites on 20 December 2007. No decision will be made concerning classification of these sites as European offshore marine sites until the JNCC consultation has concluded and recommendations have been made to Government.
	Presently, the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007 do not apply to these sites as a matter of law or as a matter of policy.
	However as stated in my earlier reply, DEFRA will consider what action might reasonably be taken to protect sites. Consenting authorities are encouraged to take note of proposals when considering any licensing or consenting decisions that may affect sites.
	If the JNCC, as our scientific nature conservation advisers, advised us that potential offshore sites are being damaged by fishing activities, we would approach the Commission to ask them to consider proposing protective measures. The JNCC have not indicated that there is any such damage occurring in our current potential sites.

Seas and Oceans: Biodiversity

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 12 December 2007,  Official Report, column 712W, on seas and oceans: biodiversity, under what legislation protection may be given to the  (a) Braemar Pockmarks,  (b) Darwin Mounds,  (c) Haig Fras,  (d) North Northfolk Sandbanks and Saturn Reef,  (e) Scanner pockmark,  (f) Stanton banks and  (g) Wyville Thomson Ridge sites; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) launched a consultation on these seven offshore sites on 20 December 2007, and it is scheduled to last 12 weeks. Following consultation, the JNCC may recommend to the Government that these sites be submitted to the European Commission for consideration as European offshore marine sites. If the Government then decide to submit these sites to the European Commission they will receive the full legal protection provided by the Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007.

Prisons

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales What recent assessment he has made of levels of prison overcrowding in Wales.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government are committed to ensuring that there are enough prison places throughout England and Wales.

Child Poverty

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the further steps he is taking to meet the Government's target to reduce child poverty in Wales.

Peter Hain: The reforms set out in Ready for Work; next steps to full employment will reduce child poverty by getting more parents, particularly lone parents off benefits and back into work.

Departmental Recycling

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recycling scheme is in operation in each building operated by his Department.

Derek Twigg: The information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department's recycling policy states that all non-hazardous waste products especially those generated from offices are recycled, this includes for example, paper, glass, aluminium cans, fluorescent tubes, printer cartridges, toners etc.
	It is the responsibility of the organisation within the Department that owns or manages the individual building, site or establishment to introduce a recycling scheme in accordance with this policy which is dependant upon local recycling availability and local recycling infrastructure.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many British service members the 25 December 2007 Permanent Joint Headquarters Personal Report stated were in  (a) Iraq,  (b) Kuwait,  (c) Bahrain,  (d) Oman,  (e) Qatar and  (f) at sea in support of Operation Telic.

Des Browne: holding answer 10 January 2008
	 Figures are not available for 25 December 2007. The following table provides the number, of UK service personnel deployed on operations in the locations specified as at 26 December 2007 taken from the personnel report of that date. Numbers for Iraq are rounded to the nearest 100, and for other countries to the nearest 10.
	
		
			  Location  Number 
			 Iraq 4,600 
			 Kuwait 320 
			 Bahrain 30 
			 Oman 210 
			 Qatar 420 
			 At sea 920 
		
	
	The number of personnel in theatre will naturally fluctuate on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including leave (rest and recuperation), temporary absence for training, evacuation for medical reasons, the roulement offerees and other factors. Personnel deployed in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar or at sea provide support both to Operation Telic and to other operations in the region.

Geronimo Communications

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which officials in his Department have managed the contract with Geronimo Communications since 1 January 2000; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: Geronimo Communications have had a PR framework agreement with the Department since 2000, awarded as a result of three separate European tenders. The European tenders resulted in a number of framework agreements awarded to several PR suppliers to cover the anticipated PR requirements of the Department over the framework life. Framework agreements rather than contracts are used where there is a regular demand for a particular service over a period of time. Users then 'call off' from the frameworks by letting contracts that relate to a specific project.
	There is split responsibility between the corporate contract management of the framework agreements and contract management at individual job level. The Media Procurement Unit, part of the Department's Commercial Group within Corporate Service Directorate run the tender process, award and corporate contract manage the framework agreements, The duties performed by the Media Procurement Unit with a supplier include dissemination of supplier information to users, corporate communications, supplier forums and surgeries, arbitration and processing of framework variations.
	Communications Directorate is the main user of the PR framework agreements, 'calling-off' from a framework agreement for a project. Those users will then 'contract manage' an individual project, selecting a supplier, setting the specification and monitoring budgets, quality and outputs.
	To list each individual contract manager that has placed work with Geronimo Communications since 2000 would create disproportionate costs.

Sports: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he is taking to promote sport in Hendon schools; what funding is being provided to school sport partnerships for schools in Hendon for 2008-09; what percentage of students in Hendon are participating in sport for two hours or more per week; how many hours of sport each week for pupils he expects to achieve in Hendon schools; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: The Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are jointly implementing the national PE, School Sport and Club Links strategy, which involves every maintained school in England. The strategy is driving up the quality and quantity of PE and school sport.
	All schools in Hendon are now in a school sport partnership. Some are part of the Barnet South Partnership, which will receive £504,027 in 2008-09. The proportion of pupils in the partnership who are participating in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport a week is 86 per cent..
	The other schools are in the St. James' Partnership, which will receive £414,579 in 2008-09. The proportion of pupils in the partnership who are participating in at least two hours high quality PE and school sport a week is 67 per cent.
	Our target is for every partnership to have at least 85 per cent. of pupils participating in at least two hours of high quality PE and school sport a week by 2008. Both partnerships will also benefit from extra funding for competition managers, coaches and top up swimming lessons.
	With our delivery partners, we are providing enhanced support for those partnerships that need help to improve their provision.

St Joseph's College Stoke on Trent

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make a statement on the future of  (a) St. Joseph's College in Stoke-on-Trent and  (b) St. George's School in Salford.

Jim Knight: It is for the local authority to consider any questions about the future of any maintained school, working with the local diocese or trustees in the case of voluntary aided schools.
	I understand that Stoke-on-Trent council have been carrying out a consultation on the possible closure of St. Joseph's, and Salford council have consulted on the possible closure of St. George's, in the context of their Building Schools for the Future projects. In the case of St Joseph's the consultation included plans to replace the school with a new Roman Catholic (RC) High School on the site of the closing school. The local authorities are now considering the views expressed. If they publish statutory proposals to close the schools, they would be the decision maker following a six week period for comments and objections, but there would be a right of appeal to the schools adjudicator by the local diocesan authorities, the Learning and Skills Council and the governing bodies and trustees of each school.
	Proposals for the new RC school to replace St. Joseph's in Stoke-on-Trent could only be proposed by the trustees, or local RC diocese, and they would have to seek the Secretary of State's consent before publishing proposals for the new school without running a school competition.

Teaching Methods

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what guidance his Department has provided to secondary schools on the teaching of low ability readers by the method of synthetic phonics;
	(2)  what funding is available for schools to purchase  (a) course materials and  (b) teacher training in synthetic phonics;
	(3)  whether it is his policy that every trainee primary teacher should be trained in synthetic phonics;
	(4)  what proportion of teacher training establishments are training primary school teachers in the use of synthetic phonics;
	(5)  what guidance his Department has provided to primary schools in England on the teaching of reading by synthetic phonics;
	(6)  what proportion of primary schools in England are teaching reading using synthetic phonics.

Jim Knight: Improving standards of literacy at all key stages is one of the Government's top priorities, Following Sir Jim Rose's review of the teaching of early reading, we have provided a wealth of guidance on the systematic teaching of phonics. We have done this through the renewal of the primary framework for literacy which puts phonics at the heart of teaching literacy; through the provision of training to all primary schools as part of the Communication Language and Literacy Development (CLLD) programme; and through the publication of Letters and Sounds, a high quality phonics teaching document sent free to all primary schools and local authorities last year.
	Although this guidance is targeted specifically at early years settings and primary schools, secondary schools are able to access freely all the guidance we provide. For secondary schools, the Secondary National Strategy has produced a specific teaching unit on phonics as part of the literacy progress units designed to help secondary schools in helping pupils struggling with reading to catch up. However, we have concentrated the main thrust of our guidance on early years settings and primary schools where it is of prime importance that firm foundations in the teaching of early reading are laid.
	We do not gather information on the proportion of primary schools in England which use phonics to teach reading. Phonic knowledge is a part of the KS1 national curriculum, so all schools are required to teach it.
	It is this Department's intention that every trainee teacher should be trained in the use of high quality, systematic phonics teaching. We have asked the Training and Development Agency to ensure that all teacher training establishments give sufficient attention to phonics teaching and we will continue to work with the national strategies to ensure that teachers and support staff receive the appropriate continuing professional development.
	We do not provide funding specifically targeted at the teaching of phonics. We believe that schools are best placed to target their funding to suit local needs. All training and materials produced through the national strategies are provided free-of-charge to schools.

Teenage Pregnancy Unit

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what budget has been allocated to the Teenage Pregnancy Unit for the next three financial years;
	(2)  what projects are being undertaken by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit;
	(3)  how many civil servants are working for the Teenage Pregnancy Unit; and what their job descriptions are.

Beverley Hughes: The funding available to support implementation of local teenage pregnancy strategies is £27.5 million for each of the next three years (2008/09 to 2010/11). A further £5.8 million is retained by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit to fund work that is managed centrally. The 'running costs' for the Teenage Pregnancy Unit itself in 2007/08 are £280,000. Decisions on funding for TPU for future years have not yet been agreed.
	The main tasks of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit include:
	supporting the delivery of local strategies through: performance management and sharing best practice;
	policy development; and
	mainstreaming teenage pregnancy work within wider Government strategies.
	There are 3.5 civil servants working in the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, covering the following responsibilities:
	National programme manager
	National policy Manager
	National support manager
	Administrative support (0.5)

Commonwealth

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK in  (a) 1997 and  (b) at the most recent date for which an estimate is available; what estimate she has made of the number of Commonwealth citizens registered to vote in the UK; which Commonwealth countries have reciprocal rights for voting with the UK; and what checks are carried out on the immigration status of applicants for electoral registration.

Angela Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 16 January 2008:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your question on what estimate has been made of the number of Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK in  (a) 1997 and  (b) at. The most recent date for which an estimate is available; what estimate has been made of the number of commonwealth citizens registered to vote in the UK; which Commonwealth countries have reciprocal rights for voting in the UK; and what checks are carried out on the immigration status of applicants for electoral registration. I am replying in her absence.
	(177394)
	In 1997, there were an estimated 695,000 Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK. In 2006, the corresponding estimate was 1,112,000. These estimates are based on Labour Force Survey data and, as with any sample survey data, are subject to margins of error.
	With respect to Commonwealth citizens registered to vote, data separately identifying British, Irish, or Commonwealth citizens are not collected centrally; these citizens are grouped together on local authority electoral returns. Therefore we are unable to produce data on voter registration separately for Commonwealth citizens.
	With respect to which Commonwealth countries have reciprocal rights for voting in the UK, the Ministry of Justice advise that this information is not held centrally. IB respect of the UK, the Representation of the People Act 1983 provides that all Commonwealth citizens who are lawfully resident here are entitled to vote in parliamentary and local elections. Decisions about the voting rights of Commonwealth, including British, citizens resident in other Commonwealth countries are for the individual countries concerned.
	With respect to checks on immigration status, the Ministry of Justice advise that all electors are required to state their nationality on the canvass form when registering to vote. Furthermore, electoral registers are available for public inspection and anyone who believes that an ineligible person has been included may object and notify the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) who may then make further inquiries as to the eligibility of that individual.
	The Electoral Administration Act strengthened this process by:
	allowing any individual to object to another person's registration details at any time;
	allowing an ERO to initiate and conduct a review of a person's registration at any time;
	creating a new criminal offence of supplying false information or failing to supply information to the electoral registration officer at any time; and
	giving the police more time to carry out investigations into electoral fraud (they may apply to court to have the normal one year limit for bringing prosecutions increased to two years, so long as there has been no undue delay in the investigation).

Bank of Credit and Commerce International: Insolvency

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the administration and liquidation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International began; what fees were collected by insolvency practitioners and their advisers in relation to the Bank; and when the liquidation was finalised.

Patrick McFadden: The UK operation of BCCI was placed into provisional liquidation on 5 July 1991. At about the same time BCCI operations in Luxembourg (its place of registration) and in the Cayman Islands were also put into provisional liquidation. On 14 January 1992, attempts at rescue having failed, the High Court ordered that BCCI be wound up and similar orders were made in the other jurisdictions at about that time.
	The most recent date to which the costs of the liquidation are available is from the annual report to the Secretary of State dated 15 January 2007. The English liquidators' remuneration totalled US $337 million paid and legal fees incurred by the English liquidators totalled US $225 million. In addition to those legal fees are the amounts which have been paid to the Bank of England following the abandonment of the liquidators' action in 2006, which totalled some £85 million, including VAT and interest. It is noteworthy that despite the high costs total moneys received by the UK liquidators as at 15 January 2007 amounted to just over US $4.1 billion and there had been five dividends to creditors who had by then received 81 per cent. of their debts. The liquidators paid a further dividend of 3 per cent. on 27 November 2007 and expect to make a further payment but are unable to provide detail at present.
	The liquidation is not yet finalized. The liquidators are making every effort to conclude the liquidation and pay final amounts to creditors as soon as possible, however, the English liquidation is one of several worldwide that are closely linked and only when they are all substantially complete will it be possible for a formal conclusion in this country.

Farepak

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when the investigation of Farepak will be finalised and the report published.

Patrick McFadden: I expect the investigation of Farepak to be completed within the next two to three months. For reasons given in a written ministerial statement by Gareth Thomas on 10 December, the report cannot be published. However, as Mr Thomas explained, if court proceedings ensue, information from the investigation will enter the public domain.

Home Information Packs

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what role the new Local Better Regulation Office will play in the enforcement of home information pack regulations by local authorities.

Patrick McFadden: The Local Better Regulation Office's objective, as proposed in the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill, is to secure that local authorities in England and Wales exercise their statutory duties effectively, in a way which does not give rise to unnecessary burdens, and which is transparent, accountable, proportionate and consistent. It has a number of functions in pursuance of its objective. These could include LBRO ensuring that local authorities are enforcing home information pack regulations effectively and in accordance with the principles of better regulation, if the need arose.

Industry: Heating

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the watts of heat which were generated by British industries between November 2006 and March 2007;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the watts of heat generated in the UK by industry which were captured and reused between November 2006 and March 2007.

Malcolm Wicks: The latest data available is for 2005. This shows that industrial sectors used 233.4 TWh of energy for heating purposes whilst the services sector used 149.7 TWh. The majority of this energy was supplied by gas and other heating fuels. These data are published in UK Energy Consumption on the BERR website.
	The topic of utilising surplus heat is being considered as part of work on Heat, with a Call for Evidence due to be published by the end of January.

Insolvency: Fees and Charges

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform if he will investigate instances of Insolvency practitioners charging more than £500 per hour.

Patrick McFadden: The Insolvency Rules 1986 determine how the remuneration of an office holder (liquidator/trustee etc.) is to be fixed and provide that such remuneration shall be fixed by reference to the time properly given to the administration, or as a percentage of the assets which are realised and distributed. In most insolvency cases it is for the liquidation or creditors' committee to determine the basis for fixing the remuneration or, in the absence of such a committee, the creditors decide the matter. The Rules also make provision for the court to review the amount of remuneration charged.
	As the amount of remuneration is subject to review by the court the Secretary of State has no powers to investigate the amount of remuneration charged.

Members: Correspondence

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he will reply to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West's letters of 10 October 2007 and 23 November 2007, with regard to Mr. Iain Hay of Edinburgh.

Gareth Thomas: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member, this was due to an administrative error. A reply will be issued shortly.

National Identity Register

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what plans his Department has to make use of data on the national identity register when it is established; and what the estimated annual cost to his Department of that use is.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will be working with the Home Office prior to the introduction of the national identity scheme to establish how identity information held on the proposed national identity register might be used to provide easier access to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform's services for our customers. It is too early in the process to establish the detailed costs and benefits.

Whales

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with representatives of other governments on whaling since the IWC59 meeting; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he plans to discuss whaling and the international moratorium on whaling with other governments before the IWC60 meeting; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what recent discussions he has had with his foreign counterparts on the subject of whale conservation; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK forms part of a core anti-whaling grouping within the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and supports the IWC's moratorium on commercial whaling. The UK remains strongly opposed to any attempt to lift or weaken the moratorium and, in the longer term, wishes to see it strengthened. We will be meeting with the core anti-whaling group in the run up to IWC60. Posts abroad will also lobby a wide range of governments prior to the meeting to ensure support for the moratorium.
	The UK has led efforts to recruit more conservation-minded countries to the IWC through our publication 'Protecting Whales—A Global Responsibility'. This publication has recently been updated and was re-released on 21 December 2007. In the coming weeks, posts will deliver the updated version to host governments, and will continue to engage in discussion with their counterparts on whaling at every appropriate opportunity.
	This year, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will write to 18 countries encouraging them to join the IWC for the greater protection of whales.
	The UK Government have consistently voiced their opposition to Japanese "scientific" whaling. Most recently, on 8 January, I called in the deputy ambassador from the Japanese embassy in London to express the UK's outrage and urge Japan to end its slaughter of whales.
	On 21 December 2007, the UK along with 29 other countries took part in a demarché to the Japanese Government calling on Japan to
	"cease all its lethal scientific research on whales, and assure the immediate return of the vessels which are implementing JARPA II" (the Japanese 'scientific' Research Programme in the Antarctic).

Antisocial Behaviour: Hampshire

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) cautions and  (b) fines have been issued for (i) vandalism, (ii) graffiti, (iii) litter and (iv) antisocial behaviour in each district and unitary council area in Hampshire in each of the last eight quarters for which records are available.

Maria Eagle: Information covering cautions and penalty notices for disorder (PNDs) issued for selected offences related to antisocial behaviour (including littering) in Hampshire police force area covering the years 2005 and 2006 are provided in tables 1 and 2. Antisocial behaviour is not a specific offence, but is defined as a person acting in an antisocial manner that caused or is likely to cause harassment alarm or distress.
	Data on cautions and PNDs for criminal damage are also provided in these tables. This offence class includes but cannot separately identify offences of  (a) vandalism and  (b) graffiti. Data broken down by each district and unitary council area in Hampshire are not held by my department.
	The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) collect data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for graffiti and littering broken down by local authority area, this data is provided in table 3.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number antisocial behaviour offences for which a caution was issued in the Hampshire police force area, by quarter, 2005 and 2006( 1,2) 
			2005  2006 
			  Offence description  Principal statute  Qtr1  Qtr2  Qtr3  Qtr4  Qtr1  Qtr2  Qtr3  Qtr4 
			 Causing wasteful employment of the police etc. Criminal Law Act 1967 Sec 5(2). 3 3 1 3 1 4 2 3 
			 Improper use of public electronic communications network Communications Act 2003 S.127 2 7 3 6 2 17 14 11 
			 False alarms of fire. Fire Services Act 1947 Sec 31. — — — — — — 1 — 
			 Harassment, alarm or distress. Public Order Act 1986 Sec 5. 95 86 108 87 131 109 110 94 
			 Throwing, casting or firing any fireworks in or into any highway, street, etc. public place. Explosives Act 1875, Sec 80. — — — — 1 — — — 
			 Any person who in any public place is guilty, while drunk, of disorderly behaviour. Criminal Justice Act 1967 Sec.91. 30 24 42 62 26 28 20 17 
			 Holder of occasional permission or his agent knowingly selling to, knowingly allow consumption by or allowing any person to sell, intoxicating liquor to a person under 18. Selling etc. intoxicating liquor to person under 18 for consumption on the premises. Licensing (Occasional Permissions) Act 1983 Schedule (Sec 3) para 4(1). Licensing Act 1964 Sec 169(1). — — — — — 1 — — 
			 Person who buys or attempts to buy alcohol on behalf of an individual under 18. Licensing Act 2003 S149(3,4,7b) — — — — — — 1 — 
			 Contravene a community support officers' requirement not to consume liquor. Penalty offence under S.1. Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001—alcohol consumption in designated public places. Police Reform Act 2002 Sch.4 Para.5 (Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S.12). Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 S12. — — — — — — 1 — 
			 Other criminal damage(3) Various 26 10 67 58 55 45 43 49 
			 Stealing from shops and stalls (shoplifting) Theft Act 1968 Sec 1. 451 469 431 458 343 343 318 335 
			 Trespass, throwing stones. British Transport Commission act 1949 S.55,56. Railway Offences: Offences against Private Acts relating to Railways (other than 169,1-6). 2 — — — — — 1 — 
			 Being found drunk in a highway or other Public place whether a building or not, or a licensed premises. Licensing Act 1872 Sec 12. 6 5 2 2 4 5 2 1 
			 Person who buys or attempts to buy alcohol en behalf of an individual under 18. Licensing Act 2003 S149 (3,4,7b) — — — — — — 1 — 
			 Depositing litter. Environmental Protection Act 1990 Sec.87. — — — — 1 — — — 
			 Total  615 604 654 676 564 552 514 510 
			 (1) Data provided on the principal offence basis. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) Includes offences of vandalism and graffiti but is not exclusive to those offences.  Source: Court proceedings database—Office for Criminal Justice Reform—Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2. Number of penalty notices for disorder issued in Hampshire police force area, by offence and quarter, 2005 and 2006( 1) 
			   2005  2006 
			  Offence description  Qtr1  Qtr2  Qtr3  Qtr4  Qtr1  Qtr2  Qtr3  Qtr4 
			 Wasting police time 7 6 11 7 13 15 36 32 
			 Misuse of public telecommunications system 2 3 — 9 12 17 22 29 
			 Giving false alarm to fire and rescue authority — 2 — — — — — 2 
			 Causing Harassment, alarm or distress 456 465 397 472 552 718 831 796 
			 Throwing fireworks 4 2 2 4 3 1 7 17 
			 Drunk and disorderly 242 247 208 269 161 147 116 122 
			 Selling alcohol to under 18 (now DA18) 4 8 10 45 23 32 31 23 
			 Purchasing alcohol for under 18 (now DA19) 6 1 1 1 1 6 3 6 
			 Purchasing alcohol for under 18 for cons on premises 1 2 — — — 1 — — 
			 Delivery of alcohol to person under 18 or allowing such delivery 3 3 1 1 1 1 2 — 
			 Criminal Damage (under £500)(2) 44 61 42 64 61 80 92 121 
			 Theft (retail under £200) 97 126 97 109 106 117 178 255 
			 Breach of fireworks curfew — — — 2 — — — — 
			 Possession of category 4 firework 1 — — 2 1 — — — 
			 Possession by a person under 18 of adult firework 1 — — — — 1 — — 
			 Sale of alcohol to drunken person — — — 1 — 1 — — 
			 Supply of alcohol to person under 18 — — — — 1 1 — - 
			 Trespass on a railway — — — — — — 4 — 
			 Throwing stones at a train / railway — — — 1 — — — — 
			 Drunk in a highway 25 14 19 20 12 5 7 8 
			 Consumption of alcohol in public place — 1 1 — 3 8 18 12 
			 Depositing and leaving litter 8 9 4 6 6 4 15 11 
			 Consumption of alcohol my under 18 on licensed premises — 1 — — — — — 1 
			 Buying or Attempting to buy alcohol for person under 18 — — — — 1 — — — 
			 Total 901 951 793 1,013 957 1,155 1,362 1,435 
			 (1) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (2) includes offences of vandalism and graffiti but is not exclusive to those offences. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of  f ixed  p enalty  n otices issued for graffiti and litter in Hampshire 
			   Graffiti  Litter 
			  Authority  April 2006 to March 2007  April 2005 to March 2006  April 2006 to March 2007  April 2005 to March 2006 
			 Basingstoke and Deane BC 0 0 1 3 
			 E Hampshire DC 0 0 14 0 
			 Eastleigh BC 0 0 0 0 
			 Fareham 0 0 4 75 
			 Gosport BC 0 0 4 0 
			 Hart DC 0 0 0 0 
			 Havant BC 1 0 12 0 
			 Isle of Wight DC 0 0 0 0 
			 New Forest DC 0 0 0 0 
			 Portsmouth CC 0 0 21 28 
			 Rushmoor BC 0 0 0 0 
			 Southampton CC 1 0 276 285 
			 Test Valley BC 0 0 123 10 
			 Winchester CC 0 0 0 0 
			  Source:  DEFRA

Chelmsford Prison: Suicide

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many suicides there have been in Chelmsford Prison since 4 May 2007; what steps are being taken to prevent suicides at Chelmsford Prison; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the trend in the number of suicides in Chelmsford Prison since 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: There have been four apparent self-inflicted deaths at Chelmsford Prison since 4 May 2007(1).
	Since 2004 the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman has been conducting investigations into all deaths in prison custody. All such deaths are also subject to a coroners inquest. The investigations into the deaths at HMP Chelmsford are on-going and it is too early to say what factors may have contributed to these particular deaths.
	However, we do know that the prison population contains a high proportion of very vulnerable individuals, many of whom have experienced negative life events that we know increase the likelihood of them harming themselves. Issues that increase risk include drug/alcohol abuse, family background and relationship problems, social disadvantage or isolation, previous sexual or physical abuse, and mental health problems.
	Every death in prison affects families, staff and other prisoners deeply. Ministers and the Prison Service are completely committed to reducing the number of such tragic incidents. The updated Prison Service suicide prevention strategy was published in October 2007 with implementation due to be completed in every prison, including Chelmsford, by end-April 2008. Building on several years of learning from the experience of prisoners, staff, investigators, inspectors and others, it incorporates developments such as improved cross-agency information flows, the provision of safer cells, increasing prisoner peer support, and the introduction of ACCT (assessment, care in custody and teamwork) the care-planning system for prisoners at-risk of suicide or self-harm, introduced across the prisons estate in partnership with the Department of Health during 2005-07.
	HMP Chelmsford itself has developed a strong relationship with Samaritans to provide support for prisoners. Over the last year there has been a great deal of work to improve suicide prevention related training for staff. This includes training in ACCT, use of cut down tools, and resuscitation techniques.
	(1) to 14 January 2008.

Judges

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) full-time and  (b) deputy district judges there were in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Maria Eagle: The number of District Judges (DJ), including District Judges (Magistrates' Courts) (DJ(MC)), and Deputy District Judges (DDJ), including Deputy District Judges (Magistrates' Courts) (DDJ(MC)), in post for the period 2004-08 is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			   District Judges  Deputy District Judges  District Judges (Magistrates' Courts)  Deputy District Judges (Magistrates' Courts) 
			 2004 (1 April) 433 801 104 173 
			 2005 (1 April) 430 826 128 167 
			 2006 (1 April) 449 840 134 158 
			 2007 (1 April) 450 780 139 169 
			 2008 (1 January) 439 825 141 155

Personal Records

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what  (a) budget and  (b) official facilities provision he has made for the review of the sharing and protection of personal information being led by Professor Mark Walport.

Michael Wills: The independent review of data sharing has a budget of £25,000 excluding staff costs. Neither Richard Thomas nor Doctor Mark Thomas receive any remuneration for undertaking this review.
	The Ministry of Justice has provided office space, IT and communication facilities, and staff resources to support the review.

Prisoner Escapes

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many absconders there have been from HMP  (a) Highdown and  (b) Downview in each of the last 10 years.

Maria Eagle: The number of incidents of prisoners absconding from  (a)High Down, and  (b) Downview in each of the last 10 years where data has been published is shown in the following table. This published data is also available for all prisons at the following link:
	http://www.hmprisonservice.gov.uk/abouttheservice/prisonperformance/performancestatistics/
	
		
			  Number 
			   HMP High Down  HMP Downview 
			 1997-98 0 2 
			 1998-99 0 0 
			 1999-00 0 0 
			 2000-01 0 0 
			 2001-02 0 0 
			 2002-03 0 0 
			 2003-04 0 0 
			 2004-05 0 0 
			 2005-06 0 0 
			 2006-07 0 0 
			 Total 0 2

Prisoners

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the maximum capacity is of each secure accommodation site to hold prisoners serving a life sentence; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The operational capacity for each establishment holding life sentenced prisoners is set out in the following table.
	
		
			  Prison  Operational capacity( 1) 
			 Acklington 882 
			 Albany 526 
			 Altcourse 1,288 
			 Ashwell 544 
			 Aylesbury 444 
			 Bedford 494 
			 Belmarsh 909 
			 Birmingham 1,450 
			 Blakenhurst 1,070 
			 Blantyre House 122 
			 Blundeston 466 
			 Bristol 606 
			 Brixton 798 
			 Buckley Hall 385 
			 Bullingdon 963 
			 Cardiff 754 
			 Channings Wood 731 
			 Chelmsford 695 
			 Coldingley 392 
			 Dartmoor 646 
			 Doncaster 1,146 
			 Dovegate 860 
			 Drake Hall 315 
			 Durham 981 
			 Elmley 985 
			 Erlestoke 410 
			 Exeter 533 
			 Featherstone 679 
			 Feltham 762 
			 Ford(2) 541 
			 Foston Hall 290 
			 Frankland 749 
			 Full Sutton 612 
			 Garth 812 
			 Gartree 575 
			 Grendon/Spring Hill 548 
			 Haverigg 635 
			 High Down 925 
			 Highpoint 816 
			 Hollesley Bay(2) 330 
			 Holloway 501 
			 Holme House 994 
			 Hull 1,040 
			 Kingston 200 
			 Kirkham(2) 590 
			 Kirklevington Grange 223 
			 Leeds 1,000 
			 Lewes 558 
			 Leyhill(2) 512 
			 Lincoln 738 
			 Lindholme 1,102 
			 Littlehey 706 
			 Liverpool 1,439 
			 Long Lartin 464 
			 Low Newton 328 
			 Maidstone 482 
			 Manchester 1,269 
			 Moorland 791 
			 Mount 764 
			 New Hall 443 
			 North Sea Camp(2) 306 
			 Norwich 557 
			 Nottingham 550 
			 Parc 1,138 
			 Parkhurst 496 
			 Pentonville 1,152 
			 Peterborough 1,008 
			 Ranby 1,038 
			 Risley 1,095 
			 Rye Hill 600 
			 Send 216 
			 Shepton Mallet 189 
			 Standford Hill(2) 464 
			 Stocken 742 
			 Styal 448 
			 Sudbury(2) 571 
			 Swaleside 773 
			 Swinfen Hall 620 
			 Usk/Prescoed(2) 428 
			 Verne 595 
			 Wakefield 751 
			 Wandsworth 1,475 
			 Wayland 717 
			 Wealstun(2) 907 
			 Wellingborough 646 
			 Whatton 821 
			 Whitemoor 458 
			 Winchester 544 
			 Wolds 380 
			 Woodhill 807 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 1,256 
			 Wymott 1,062 
			 (1) As at 11 January 2008. (2) Denotes open prisons. 
		
	
	The table includes only those establishments holding 10 or more life sentenced prisoners.
	Operational capacity for establishments is the total number of prisoners that an establishment can hold taking into account control, security and the proper operation of the planned regime.
	The capacity provided is for all prisoners held at these establishments including non-life sentenced prisoners.

Academies

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the progress of the review of academy schools by the Number 10 Delivery Unit;
	(2)  what the names are of all those who have worked for the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit in the last 12 months;
	(3)  whether a copy of the review of academy schools by the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit will be made publicly available;
	(4)  when the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit review of academy schools will report;
	(5)  how many people are working on the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit review of academy schools;
	(6)  what the timescale is for the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit review of academy schools.

Andy Burnham: I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Minister of State for Children, Schools and Families gave to the hon. Member for Yeovil on 19 November 2007,  Official Report, column 624W and also to the remarks made on the Floor of the House by the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on 13 November 2007 , Official Report, columns 561-62. PMDU reviews are confidential advice to Ministers; we do not disclose the recommendations or publish the report.
	The review of the academies programme is being jointly led by a number of officials in the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit in partnership with Treasury and DCSF officials in the Academies and Capitals Group of the Department. The serving Director of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit is Richard Page-Jones and Ray Shostak is the Head of the Unit.

Excise Duties: Fuels

Angus MacNeil: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will consider derogating from EU regulations, as negotiated by the French government, to enable a reduction in fuel duty in rural areas by three per cent. until 2011, with particular reference to the Scottish islands.

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he has given to implementing a scheme whereby those living in rural and remote areas with extremely high dependence upon cars are allowed preferential rates of fuel duty.

Angela Eagle: Fuel duty helps the Government meet their objectives of reducing polluting emissions and funding public services. A derogation to alter fuel duty rates in this way would have to be carefully considered in the light of the above objectives as well as administrative and fraud considerations and the Government have no current plans to seek one.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Admissions

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of accident and emergency department admissions at  (a) Barnet and Chase Farm hospital,  (b) Royal Free hospital and  (c) Northwick Park hospital were seen, treated and discharged or admitted within target times set in the most recent period for which figures are available; what the equivalent figures were in 1997; what the (i) average and (ii) longest waiting time for treatment was in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available centrally in the format requested.
	Data is collected on the proportion of attendances at accident and emergency (A and E) departments that are seen and admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival. It is not possible to establish the proportion of patients who are admitted to hospital via A and E departments that were also seen, diagnosed and treated within four hours of arrival.
	Information is also not available at the level of individual hospitals. For 2006-07 and quarters 1 and 2 of 2007-08 the percentage of patients who were seen and admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of their arrival at the relevant national health service trusts is shown in the following table. Data available on performance against the operational standard does not go back to 1997.
	
		
			  Percentage 
			   2006-07  2007-08 Q1  2007-08 Q2 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals NHS trust 97.5 99.1 99.2 
			 North West London hospitals NHS trust 97.1 97.5 97.8 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust 98.4 98.5 98.6 
			  Note: The Department collects A and E data at trust rather than hospital level. The table shows data for the relevant trusts. The Northwick Park hospital is provided by North West London hospitals NHS trust.  Source: Department of Health dataset QMAE

Ambulance Services: Barnet

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps are being taken to improve emergency ambulance services in Barnet;
	(2)  what the  (a) target response time and  (b) average response time in the (i) last 12 months and (ii) in 2008 and  (c) longest response time in the (A) last 12 months and (B) 2007-08 for an NHS ambulance service call was in Barnet; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: It is for strategic health authorities (SHAs), as the local headquarters of the national health service, and primary care trusts, as commissioners, to ensure that national response time standards are delivered and maintained by ambulance trusts, and we understand that the hon. Member has raised this directly with Barnet primary care trust.
	The Department implemented a £25 million capital incentive scheme during 2006-07. A similar scheme operated in 2004-05. Both schemes rewarded trusts who demonstrated improved levels of performance including response times.
	NHS ambulance trusts are required to meet the following response times:
	Category A (presenting conditions which may be immediately life threatening) calls should be responded to within eight minutes irrespective of location, in 75 per cent. of cases. All NHS ambulance trusts should respond to 95 per cent. of category A calls, with a vehicle capable of transporting the patient, within 19 minutes of the request for transport being made.
	Category B (presenting conditions which though serious are not immediately life threatening) calls should be responded to within 19 minutes in 95 per cent. of cases.
	Since 1 October 2004 local NHS organisations have had responsibility for managing and monitoring the ways in which local services respond to category C (presenting conditions which are not immediately serious or life threatening) calls.
	The data that the Department collects on ambulance response times is published on an annual basis in the statistical bulletin, "Ambulance services, England". The latest statistical bulletin, "Ambulance Services, England, 2006-07" was published in June 2007.
	These documents are available in the Library and on the information centre for health and social care website:
	www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs

Chlamydia: Screening

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) men and  (b) women were screened by each local Chlamydia screening programme in (i) 2005-06 and (ii) 2006-07.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested is shown in the following tables. The programme was rolled out to primary care trusts (PCTs) in a phased way. The introduction of the programme in all PCTs is currently being completed. At the end of September 2007, we had 65 programme areas reporting data to the Health Protection Agency.
	
		
			  Number of men and women screened for Chlamydia within each programme area, 2005-06 
			  Programme area  Males  Females  Total 
			 Birmingham 532 4,582 5,114 
			 Brent and Harrow 548 1,882 2,430 
			 Brighton 1,049 4,603 5,652 
			 Camden and Islington 145 3,070 3,215 
			 Cornwall 1,988 4,167 6,155 
			 Coventry 153 1,102 1,255 
			 Durham and Teeside 1,656 2,794 4,450 
			 East Cheshire 426 2,958 3,384 
			 East Kent 638 2,621 3,259 
			 East Yorkshire 145 200 345 
			 Enfield and Haringey 123 1,366 1,489 
			 Hull 556 2,405 2,961 
			 Lambeth and Southwark 781 6,158 6,939 
			 Leeds 1,275 3,287 4,562 
			 Lewisham 817 3,471 4,288 
			 Liverpool 1,455 9,541 10,996 
			 Luton and Bedfordshire 302 1,314 1,616 
			 Milton Keynes 18 114 132 
			 Norfolk and Waveney 428 2,057 2,485 
			 Nottingham City 629 5,775 6,404 
			 Portsmouth 286 4,757 5,043 
			 South East Essex 133 1,886 2,019 
			 Sheffield 541 3,292 3,833 
			 Berkshire East 1,013 1,330 2,343 
			 Stoke (North Staffordshire) 605 2,573 3,178 
			 West Cheshire 130 1,452 1,582 
			 Winchester—now Hampshire 1,380 2,435 3,815 
			 Wirral 406 3,612 4,018 
			 York 292 1,752 2,044 
			  Note: Total includes records where sex is unknown/not specified. Consequently, males and females may not add up to total.  Source: The National Chlamydia Screening Programme. Data as of 17 December 2007. 
		
	
	
		
			  Number of men and women screened for Chlamydia within each programme area, 2006-07 
			  Programme area  Males  Females  Total 
			 Ashfield 13 15 28 
			 Birmingham 780 5,956 6,736 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 234 459 694 
			 Bradford and Craven 181 867 1,048 
			 Brent and Harrow 500 1,753 2,253 
			 Brighton 1,001 4,735 5,736 
			 Buckinghamshire (1)— (1)— 14 
			 Cambridge and Peterborough 440 991 1,431 
			 Camden and Islington 246 3,158 3,404 
			 Central Lancashire 176 1,202 1,378 
			 Cornwall 2,787 5,289 8,076 
			 Coventry 345 1,563 1,908 
			 Dorset 362 232 594 
			 Durham and Teeside 3,797 3,335 7,132 
			 East Cheshire 536 3,386 3,934 
			 East Kent 583 2,617 3,200 
			 East Lancashire 105 377 482 
			 East Yorkshire 283 474 757 
			 Enfield and Haringey 363 1,511 1,874 
			 Greater Manchester 1,336 6,530 7,925 
			 Hastings 108 424 532 
			 Hounslow 58 176 234 
			 Hull 633 3,035 3,668 
			 Lambeth and Southwark 1,506 7,847 9,353 
			 Leeds 1,472 4,037 5,509 
			 Leicester 44 167 213 
			 Lewisham 1,157 5,341 6,498 
			 Liverpool 1,646 9,809 11,509 
			 Luton and Bedfordshire 453 1,556 2,011 
			 Milton Keynes 532 2,261 2,793 
			 Northumberland, Tyne and Wear 446 759 1,205 
			 Norfolk and Waveney 552 1,987 2,539 
			 Northern Lincolnshire 42 90 132 
			 Nottingham City 822 5,953 6,775 
			 Portsmouth 560 4,237 4,797 
			 Plymouth (1)— (1)— (1)— 
			 South East Essex 266 2,137 2,403 
			 Sheffield 802 4,234 5,036 
			 Berkshire East 1,201 1,444 2,645 
			 South Staffordshire 43 306 349 
			 Southampton 103 289 392 
			 Stoke (North Staffordshire) 647 3,589 4,236 
			 Suffolk 160 1,033 1,193 
			 West Cheshire 137 1,640 1,777 
			 West Kent 307 1,472 1,780 
			 West Sussex 17 26 44 
			 Western Wakefield 46 290 336 
			 Winchester - now Hampshire 2,283 3,508 5,791 
			 Wirral 726 4,516 5,256 
			 York 1,064 2,508 3,572 
			 (1 )Cell size of one to four have been masked to protect deductive disclosure in accordance with Office for National Statistics guidelines.  Note: 1. Total includes records where sex is unknown/not specified. Consequently, males and females may not add up to total. 2. The data from the NCSP are screens outside of genitor-urinary medicine. 3. The data available from the NCSP are the number of screens and not the number of people screened. 4. The data only include those aged 13-24.  Source: The National Chlamydia Screening Programme (NCSP). Data as of 17 December 2007.

Departmental Expenditure

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 3 December 2007,  Official Report, column 996W, on departmental expenditure, what written guidance documents were provided by the finance directorate; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the note entitled "Financial Planning and CSR2007".

Ben Bradshaw: As was the case in previous administrations it is not Government practice to put internal guidance documents in the public domain.

Developing Patient Partnerships

Ian Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to fund Developing Patient Partnerships beyond April 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: A further grant to Developing Patient Partnerships was agreed on the condition that they worked towards self-sufficiency by increasing its subscriber base. There are therefore no plans to provide any further support for Developing Patient Partnerships beyond its current Section 64 grant arrangements that end in March 2008.

Eyesight: Testing

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pensioners in Hendon aged over 60 years had free eye tests in the last year for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: The latest year, for which, data broken down by patient eligibility type are available is 2005-06. During the year ending 31 March 2006, there were 68,633 sight tests paid for by the national health service in Barnet primary care trust (PCT), of which, 24,121 were for persons aged 60 or over.
	During the year ending 31 March 2007, there were a total of 70,226 sight tests paid for by the NHS in Barnet PCT. Reliable information broken down by patient eligibility type is not currently available. Information is not available at constituency level.

Family Practitioner Services: Working Hours

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of GP practices offer extended opening hours, broken down by  (a) region and  (b) primary care trust area.

Ben Bradshaw: This information is not collected centrally. However, the latest figures from the Department's quarterly access to primary care survey show that 9 per cent, of patients say they are able to make appointments at their general practitioner practice outside 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday.

Health Services: Standards

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria are used to determine that it is not in the best interests of an individual patient for the 18-week referral-to-treatment target apply to them.

Ben Bradshaw: There will always be some patients for whom starting treatment within 18-weeks of referral would not be clinically appropriate.
	Decisions on whether it is clinically appropriate to start treatment within 18 weeks of referral rests with clinicians in consultation with patients.

Health: Barnet

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Barnet were diagnosed with  (a) type 2 diabetes,  (b) obesity problems as (i) adults and (ii) children,  (c) alcohol dependency and  (d) drug dependency in (1) 2006-07 and (2) 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested. Data on the number of people in Barnet with type 2 diabetes, alcohol dependency and drug dependency are not available centrally.
	The following table provides estimated prevalence of obesity among adults aged 16 and over, along with associated confidence intervals for Barnet local authority (LA). These estimates are taken from model-based estimates of healthy lifestyles behaviours, and are only for the combined years 2003-05. Model-based estimates by LA are not available for children.
	
		
			  Model-based estimates of obesity prevalence in Barnet local authority, 2003-05 
			   Percentage 
			 Estimated prevalence of obesity 16.8 
			 95 per cent. lower confidence interval 15.2 
			 95 per cent. upper confidence interval 18.6 
			 Comparison of estimated prevalence for obesity with national estimate(1,2) 1 
			 (1) The national estimate is derived directly from the Health Surveys for England 2003-05 (with associated Confidence Intervals) and therefore is not a model-based estimate. (2) It should be noted that the scores for comparing the synthetic estimate to the national estimate relate to the data as follows: 1=CI significantly below NE 2=overlapping, 3=CI significantly above NE. The national estimate is derived directly from the health surveys for England 2003-05 (with associated confidence intervals) and therefore is not a model-based estimate.  Sources: 1. Model-based Estimates of Healthy Lifestyles Behaviours, 2003-05 2. Neighbourhood Statistics, Office for National Statistics (ONS)

Hospitals: Admissions

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many attendances there were at  (a) Barnet Hospital accident and emergency department,  (b) Royal Free Hospital accident and emergency department and  (c) Edgware Hospital walk-in centre in (i) each of the last three years and (ii) 2007-08 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available centrally in the format requested, as data on accident and emergency (A and E) attendances are not collected at the level of individual hospitals and services.
	The following table shows the number of attendances at A and E departments for the relevant trusts for the requested years.
	
		
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust 139,165 149,082 150,859 74,418 
			 Barnet PCT 77,124 88,787 95,263 46,563 
			 Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust 75,949 78,411 77,228 38,635 
			  Note: The 2007-08 data include quarter 1 and quarter 2 only.  Source: Department of Health dataset QMAE 
		
	
	The Department collects A and E data at trust rather than hospital level, and the table shows data for the relevant trusts. The Edgware Hospital Walk in Centre is provided by Barnet PCT.

Incontinence: Medical Equipment

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  when he will publish an impact assessment for the proposals contained in Arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances, and related services, to primary care revised proposals;
	(2)  when he will publish a summary of responses to the consultation Arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances, and related services, to primary care; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what response he has made to the results of the consultations on the arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances, and related services, to primary care; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department intends to publish an impact assessment following detailed evaluation of the responses to the consultation entitled 'Arrangements under Part IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and incontinence appliances—and related services—to Primary Care. Revised Proposals' and following further discussion with interested parties. The impact assessment will be published on the Department's website, giving all parties the opportunity to comment on it.
	The consultation is part of an ongoing process that began in October 2005 and two earlier partial regulatory impact assessments were prepared. The first was published in October 2005 with the initial consultation. This included dressings and reagents, as well as stoma and incontinence appliances, as we were also reviewing arrangements for them at that stage. The new arrangements for dressings and chemical reagents were implemented in October 2006. The second was published in November 2006. Copies of both of these have been placed in the Library.
	The latest consultation closed on 28 December 2008 and responses are being evaluated. A summary of these responses—and an indication of next steps—will be published no later than 28 March 2008.

Influenza: Vaccination

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many influenza vaccinations were administered in Leicester in each of the last five years.

Dawn Primarolo: The data on influenza vaccination uptake is collected by the primary care trust (PCT). Data has been provided for the last five years for those aged 65 years and over. Data for those aged 65 years in clinical risk groups has only been collected since 2005-06 and is also provided. This information is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Vaccination uptake (percentage) among the 65 years and over for Leicester for each year between 2002 to 2006 (cumulative data) 
			65 years and over 
			Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Health Authority 
			  Survey year  Strategic health authority (SHA)/primary care trust (PCT) Name  Total persons aged 65 and over from returning practices  Total persons vaccinated  Total percentage uptake 
			 2002-03(1) Eastern Leicester PCT 22,457 14,024 62.4 
			  Leicester City West PCT 19,784 12,162 61.5 
			  South Leicester PCT 25,933 18,480 71.3 
			  Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT 29,293 19,852 67.8 
			  Eastern Leicester PCT 21,206 15,456 72.9 
			  Leicester City West PCT 18,168 12,876 70.9 
			  
			 2003-04 South Leicester PCT 26,456 18,752 70.9 
			  Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT 36,302 25,420 70.0 
			  Eastern Leicester PCT 22,694 15,793 69.6 
			  Leicester City West PCT 19,658 12,071 61.4 
			  
			 2004-05 South Leicester PCT 26,796 19,708 73.5 
			  Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT 36,129 25,504 70.6 
			  Eastern Leicester PCT 22,708 16,132 71.0 
			  Leicester City West PCT 19,598 12,940 66.0 
			  
			 2005-06 South Leicester PCT 27,259 21,102 77.4 
			  Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT 37,203 27,686 74.4 
			  
			 2006-07(2) Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland PCT 104,929 77,861 74.2 
			  Leicester City PCT 41,445 28,425 68.6 
		
	
	
		
			Under 65 years and at risk( 3) 
			  Survey year  SHA/PCT Name  Total persons aged under 65 at risk from returning practices  Total persons vaccinated  Total percentage uptake 
			 2005-06 Leicester City West PCT South 11,201 4,583 40.9 
			  Eastern Leicester PCT 14,392 8,426 58.5 
			  Charnwood and North West Leicestershire PCT 14,521 6,954 47.9 
			  Leicestershire PCT 5,828 2,683 46.0 
			  
			 2006-07(2) Leicestershire City PCT 30,912 13,972 45.2 
			  Leicestershire County and Rutland PCT 52,703 22,881 43.4 
			 (1) For seasons 2002 to 2005 Leicester fell under Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland health authority. Data here is provided at PCT level (2) For season 2006-07 the geography changed again and data is shown by both Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland authority and Leicester City PCT. (3) Data for individuals aged under 65 years and in a risk group has only been collated since the 2005-06 season and therefore unavailable for previous years  Notes: 1. Uptake figures include only those general practitioner practices who have returned confirmation to the survey and reflect data for individuals vaccinated at these premises. 2. The change in geography reflected in uptake returns by PCT mapped to the designated area:  Source: Health Protection Informatics web based reporting site (HPI) Influenza Immunisation Uptake Monitoring Programme Health Protection Agency/Department of Health

Influenza: Vaccination

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many Hendon residents received influenza vaccinations for the 2007-08 winter.

Dawn Primarolo: The data on influenza vaccination uptake is collected by the primary care trust (PCT). Provisional influenza vaccination uptake data up to the end of November 2007 is available for Barnet PCT which includes the constituency of Hendon. It shows that 34,693 people aged 65 years and over, and 9,504 people aged under 65 years in clinical risk groups, have received influenza vaccine by the end of November 2007.

Negligence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many clinical negligence cases were open on the NHS Litigation Authority database at the most recent date for which information is available; and how many of those cases are being funded by  (a) legal aid,  (b) conditional fee agreements,  (c) before the event insurance,  (d) private means and  (e) other means.

Ann Keen: holding answer 14 January 2008
	The information requested is shown in the following table. The NHS Litigation Authority supplied the data.
	Number of clinical negligence cases open on the NHS Litigation Authority database and their funding arrangements where known as at 31 December 2007.
	
		
			   Number of reported incidents( 1)  open at 31 December 2007  Number of actual claims open at 31 December 2007  Total number of open cases at 31 December 2007 
			 BTE Insurance 17 598 615 
			 Conditional Fee Arrangement 88 2,703 2,791 
			 Legal Services Commission 355 4,492 4,847 
			 Self Funded 30 647 677 
			 Unknown 779 2,203 2,982 
			 Total 1,269 10,643 11,912 
			 (1) Reported incidents are incidents that have been reported but which have not yet been made into an actual claim.

NHS: Questionnaires

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of posting the IPSOS MORI NHS questionnaire and reply envelopes by first class post; and what estimate was made of the cost of sending the questionnaires and replies by second class post.

Ben Bradshaw: It is not possible to provide a detailed breakdown of postal or other individual costs involved in the general practitioner patient survey as these relate to the commercial contract with Ipsos MORI. However we can assure that the postal survey was achieved at a substantially discounted rate. First class post has been used as independent expert evidence on postal surveys has shown this to be more effective in administering successful surveys including increased response rates and reducing the need for reminders (and therefore costs).

Nurses: Pay

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average salary of a  (a) newly qualified nurse,  (b) qualified nurse and  (c) nurse consultant in Barnet was in (i) 1997 and (iii) 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested.
	It is not possible to distinguish between a newly qualified nurse and a qualified nurse in order to calculate an average salary. Data for nurse and nurse consultant pay is not collected by primary care trust area.
	However, the starting pay for a newly qualified nurse in England in 1997-98 was £12,385. In 2007-08 it was £19,454 in April rising to £19,683 in November.
	Nurse consultants did not exist in 1997.
	There are two pay bands for nurse consultants which depend on the demands of the job.
	In 2007 the nurse consultants' pay bands ranged from £36,112—£90,607.

Nutrition: Sustainable Development

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps are taken by the Food Standards Agency to ensure that advice offered to the public on nutrition is compatible with the principles of sustainable development.

Dawn Primarolo: The Agency seeks to takes sustainable development into account in its activities and policy decisions, including nutritional advice to the public. This commitment is supported by training and written guidance for staff on applying the principles of sustainable development.

Royal Free Hospital

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on the Royal Free hospital's bid to become a Foundation Trust.

Ben Bradshaw: The Royal Free Hampstead NHS trust has received the support of the Secretary of State (Alan Johnson) to make an application to Monitor (the statutory name of which is the independent regulator of national health service foundation trusts) to be considered for authorisation as a NHS foundation trust. Subject to meeting Monitor's criteria for assessment, the trust will be authorised on 1 March 2008.

Smoking: Public Places

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact the prohibition of smoking in public places has had on health since its introduction; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1365W to my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Mr. Devine).

Departmental Manpower

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many  (a) men and  (b) women of each civil service grade are employed by his Department.

Anne McGuire: The number of people employed in the Department, appear in civil service statistics collected and published by the Office for National Statistics. The most recent publication is for the year to 30 September 2006. Table H of the publication presents permanent employees by Department, responsibility level, ethnic origin and gender.
	This can be found at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/2006CivilServiceStatistics.pdf
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_labour/2006CivilService2006TablesandCharts.xls

Departmental Sustainable Development

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department is working with an accredited certified environmental management system  (a) for its whole estate and  (b) in some of its buildings.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 10 December 2007
	The Department for Work and Pensions meets the mandate within targets for sustainability on the Government estate by operating a corporate environmental management system, based on ISO 14001 across all its functions. It is not, at this time, intended to seek certification for this. Jobcentre Plus (an executive agency of DWP) operates an environmental management system which is accredited to ISO14001 within its South East area—this covers 88 buildings and 6,000 staff.
	Additionally, our estates partner—Land Securities Trillium—operates an environmental management system accredited to ISO14001, covering all the estates functions delivered by them at sites occupied by DWP.

EU Grants and Loans

David Heathcoat-Amory: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people employed in his Department work on administering EU structural funds; and what the cost of such staff was in 2006-07.

James Plaskitt: In 2006-07, 46 people were employed in the Department for Work and Pensions on administering EU structural funds, and the running costs related to these staff were £2.2 million.

Financial Services: Religion

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps the Government are taking to improve access to suitable financial instruments to reduce financial exclusion amongst those unable to use conventional financial arrangements due to their religious beliefs.

Andy Burnham: I have been asked to reply.
	It is the Government's strong belief that everyone, irrespective of their religious beliefs, should have access to appropriate financial products and services. To this end, the Government have introduced a number of legislative changes since 2003, including those to allow the equal tax treatment of mortgages that comply with Sharia'a principles, and will continue to make further changes where necessary. In addition, in April 2007 Ed Balls, the then Economic Secretary to the Treasury, announced that National Savings and Investments (NS&I) would assess the feasibility of the Government issuing Sharia'a compliant retail products. NS&I will report back to Ministers in spring 2008.

Joint Child Poverty Unit

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his responsibilities are in relation to the Joint Child Poverty Unit; and what arrangements are in place for liaison with other Departments on the work of the Unit.

Caroline Flint: holding answer 14 January 2008
	The Child Poverty Unit brings together officials from both the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Children, Schools and Families. It will report to Ministers in both Departments and to a child poverty board comprised of senior officials from across Whitehall. At ministerial level, this board will report to the Cabinet Committee on Domestic Affairs (Families, Children and Young People).
	The unit will play a lead co-ordinating role, as the Government pursue their multi faceted child poverty strategy which includes transport, health and regeneration as well as employment, skills and the tax and benefit system, on the way towards making our ambitious but vital goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020 a reality.
	The unit is also currently setting up working groups with officials across a number of Government Departments and local government offices, and will work closely with HM Treasury.

Performance Appraisals

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what objectives, targets or standards new employees in his Department are required to meet in their probationary period; and how the performance of new recruits in his Department is assessed.

Anne McGuire: Probationers and new recruits are expected to work to the same standards of behaviour and attendance as all other employees in the Department.
	New recruits must complete a probation period of six months, during this time the probationer's attendance, capability and conduct is monitored. Appropriate objectives and targets are set by line managers according to the particular role and degree of training required.
	The performance of new recruits is assessed in the same way as any other employee in the Department. DWP has a Performance and Development System to support day-to-day performance management which applies to all staff up to and including Grade 6.

Social Security Benefits: Pensioners

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average value of benefits in kind provided by the state was to  (a) single pensioners and  (b) pensioner couples in Huddersfield in 1996-97 and in each year since then.

Mike O'Brien: A wide range of services and benefits in kind are available to older people and these are administered both centrally and locally. As a result, the information is not available in the format requested: some information is not collected and some could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The information which is available is given as follows.
	 (i) NHS services
	People aged 60 and over are able to claim free prescriptions and eye tests on the grounds of age.
	The NHS services information is not available broken down into single pensioner and pensioner couples.
	Information on the value of medicines provided by the national health service (NHS) to pensioners is available only at primary care trust level.
	The following table shows the estimated net ingredient cost (NIC) of medicines dispensed by the NHS in the community, to patients aged 60 and over, in the South Huddersfield and Huddersfield Central PCTs which existed from October 2000 to September 2006.
	
		
			  Total NIC spent on people over 60 claiming free prescriptions 
			  £ 
			  Financial year  PCT South Huddersfield - NIC( 1)  PCT Huddersfield Central NIC( 1) 
			 October 2000 - March 2001 1,556,247 4,578,673 
			 April 2001 - March 2002 3,660,956 9,996,305 
			 April 2002 - March 2003 4,274,282 11,269,579 
			 April 2003 - March 2004 5,031,551 12,547,823 
			 April 2004 - March 2005 5,363,708 13,115,300 
			 |April 2005 - March 2006 4,986,221 11,766,929 
			 (1) These figures have been taken from the prescription cost analysis database and are estimates based on a sample of prescriptions.  Notes: Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) - NIC is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income. Data for the period April 2006 to September 2006 is not available as it is part year. 
		
	
	Free NHS sight tests were made available to people aged 60 and over from 1 April 1999. Information on the value of NHS sight tests provided to people aged 60 and over within the area of the former Huddersfield Central primary care trust (PCT) and South Huddersfield PCT is only available on a consistent basis for the years set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Number of free NHS sight tests given to people aged 60 and over within Huddersfield Central PCT  Estimated cost of NHS sight tests to people aged60 and over in Huddersfield Central PCT (£)  Number of free NHS sight tests given to people aged60 and over within South Huddersfield PCT  Estimated cost of NHS sight tests to people aged 60 and over in South Huddersfield PCT (£) 
			 2003-04 16,598 286,000 2,863 49,000 
			 2004-05 15,868 283,000 2,875 51,000 
			 2005-06 16,632 306,000 3,483 64,000 
			  Note: 2006-07 sight test data is not available at PCT level. Strategic health authority (SHA) and primary care trust (PCT) level data for the first half of 2007-08 will be available in the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care's publication "General Ophthalmic Services: Activity Statistics for England and Wales: April 2007-September 2007" due to be published by March 2008. 
		
	
	Information on the age of adults who qualify on grounds other than their age for help with other NHS services, such as optical vouchers or relief from dental charges, is not collected centrally.
	 (ii) Social services
	The table shows gross current expenditure for Kirklees metropolitan district council, which includes Huddersfield council, on older people aged 65 or over from 1996-97 to 2005-06. Social services information is not available broken down into single pensioner and pensioner couples. Information is not available separately for Huddersfield.
	
		
			  Gross current expenditure( 1 ) by Kirklees metropolitan council on older people (aged 65 or over) 
			  £000 
			  Year (1 April to 31 March)  Gross current expenditure 
			 1996-97 39,360 
			 1997-98 40,113 
			 1998-99 43,639 
			 1999-2000 46,928 
			 2000-01 48,970 
			 2001-02 54,971 
			 2002-03(2) 58,353 
			 2003-04(3) 60,522 
			 2004-05 70,552 
			 2005-06 77,061 
			 (1) Gross expenditure includes income from client contributions, but excludes capital charges and certain income items which count as expenditure elsewhere in the public sector, such as contributions from primary care trusts. This is to avoid double counting within the aggregate public sector accounts of the money involved. (2) From 2002-03 onwards, the data includes clients who transferred to council with social services responsibilities (CSSR) support on 8 April 2002, who were formally in receipt of higher rates of income support under the Department for Work and Pensions preserved rights scheme. (3) From 2003-04, additional funding was made available to CSSRs via the Supporting People grant.  Source: Revenue outturn (RO3) and personal social services expenditure (PSS EX1) returns 
		
	
	 (iii) Television licences
	Free television licences for people aged 75 or over were introduced in November 2000. TV Licensing, who administer free licences as agents for the BBC, are not able to provide geographical breakdowns of licences issued. However, figures, shown in the following table, are available for the number of households with at least one person aged 75 or over claiming Winter Fuel Payments in Huddersfield constituency. These people would be eligible for a free television licence.
	
		
			  Huddersfield constituency 
			   Number of households with someone aged 75 or over 
			 2004-05 5,085 
			 2005-06 5,180 
			 2006-07(1) 5,150 
			 (1) Main payment run only  Note: Data prior to 2004-05 is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average cost of making a benefit claim by telephone.

Caroline Flint: The Department estimates the average cost of making benefit claim by telephone using a BT landline telephone is in the following table.
	
		
			  Benefit  Basis of calculation  Cost (p) 
			 Attendance allowance 0800 number Nil 
			 Carers allowance 0800 number Nil 
			 Disability living allowance 0800 number Nil 
			 Incapacity benefit 0800 number Nil 
			 Income support 0800 number Nil 
			 Jobseeker's allowance 0800 number Nil 
			 Pension credit 0800 number Nil 
			 State pension 0845 number. Monday to Friday 6am to 6pm. Based on an average call of 20 minutes at 3.95p per minute including a 6p set up fee per call. 86 
			 State pension 0845 number. Monday to Friday before 6am and after 6pm and on Saturday. Based on an average call of 20 minutes at a BT rate of 1p per minute including a 6p set up fee per call. 26 
			 Social fund crisis loans 0800 number Nil 
		
	
	The Pension Service will always offer to call state pension customers back if they express any concerns about the costs being incurred.
	Customers calling an 0800 or 0845 number from their mobile phone, non BT phone network or from abroad will be charged at the specific operators call rate.

Social Security Benefits: Young People

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women aged  (a) 19 years and under and  (b) 15 years and under, with dependent children, are in receipt of income-related benefits in England; and what the average amount of benefit is they receive.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available.
	There are currently five income-related benefits: income support; income-based jobseeker's allowance; pension credit; housing benefit; and council tax benefit. All the benefits have different rules as regards to the minimum age of claimants. Income support and jobseeker's allowance cannot be paid to anyone under 16 years of age. Pension credit is for those aged 60 and over. There is no lower age limit for housing benefit, but it is payable to those under 16 years of age only in very exceptional circumstances. Council tax benefit is not payable to anyone under 18 years of age; under that age an individual cannot be liable for council tax.
	New claims for income support and jobseeker's allowance no longer include amounts for children; parents receive child tax credits instead. Because of this, there is no reliable information on those claimants who have dependent children.
	As at May 2004, the most recent available figure, there were 22,000 women aged 16 to 19 claiming housing benefit who had a dependant child in their household. This figure includes both single claimants and those with a partner. The average weekly amount of housing benefit in these cases was £80.10.
	As at May 2004, the most recent available figure, there were 18,000 women under 19 years of age claiming council tax benefit who had a dependant child in their household. This figure includes both single claimants and those with a partner. The average weekly amount of council tax benefit in these cases is £13.00.

Peter Hain

Adam Price: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission whether the Electoral Commission has received the final and comprehensive account of the right hon. Member for Neath's donations received as part of his campaign for the deputy leadership of the Labour party; and what steps the Commission plans to take with regard to the previously undeclared donations.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that the right hon. Member for Neath provided further information on 10 January about donations made to his deputy leadership campaign. The Commission is undertaking initial permissibility checks on this information before publishing the relevant details on its website in the register of donations to regulated donees. The Commission will then follow up any outstanding compliance issues.